Storybook Love
by southernbangel
Summary: Come my love, I'll tell you a tale, of a boy and girl and their love story.


**Disclaimer: Not mine. Have never been mine and will never be mine.**

 **Author's Notes: So, I haven't written anything in forever. (I know, I know, I have "Close Your Eyes" languishing. It WILL be finished.) So to hopefully kick start my creative juices again, here is a quick (as in, I literally wrote this in an hour while at work), rough (see: wrote it in an hour) story. (It's so bad, I know it is, but I needed to write _something_ to get back into the groove.)  
**

 **Based off Mark Knopfler's classic "Storybook Love" from "The Princess Bride." (Lyrics are italicized and centered.)  
**

 **Summary: Come, my love, I'll tell you a tale, of a boy and girl and their love story.**

* * *

"Daddy, tell me the story again, pleeeeeease," the little girl begged as her father tucked her into bed for the night. Her daddy was the best story-teller and of all the stories he told her at night, this one was her favorite. She asked him to tell it so often that she only had to say "the story" and he knew what she wanted to hear. "Please, daddy?"

"Again? I just told it to you the other night." Her father had to bite back a grin at his daughter's pleading. He knew that he would tell her the story the moment she asked and as often as she liked because she had him wrapped around her tiny finger, but he enjoyed teasing her. She would scrunch her nose in irritation just like her mother whenever she didn't get her way immediately. "What about the story of the puppy who had a picnic?"

"Daaaaaaaddy," the little girl nearly whined, her nose scrunching adorably. "Please?"

"Or I could tell you the story of the time Grandpa Dan tried to learn how to rollerskate…"

"Daddy!" Her sweet voice was indignant and he had to hold in his laughter.

"Okay, Lyds, I'll tell you the story." Although he enjoyed teasing his daughter, he knew he could only take it to a certain point before the begging turned into frustrated tears which would lead to his wife being called in to take over the nighttime routine. The man cherished the time he spent with his daughter as he got her ready for bed; it was their special "Daddy and Lydia" time.

After he completed the nightly ritual, and with his daughter's favorite stuffed bear tucked in next to her, he took his usual place on the bed beside her. His daughter immediately snuggled to his side and he felt his heart leap with the pure joy he never knew existed until he had children. Taking a moment to lean down to kiss her soft curls, he finally straightened and began the oft-told story once again.

 _Come my love I'll tell you a tale_

 _Of a boy and girl and their love story_

"Once there was this silly young boy who wasn't very nice to other people. He played this silly game with a round, bouncy ball, and he thought that made him special. He was mean sometimes, didn't do his school work like he should have—" He paused for a moment to let his daughter play her role in the story-telling.

"Did he know his ABC's?" his daughter gasped. She was learning the alphabet and to the bright five-year-old, knowing the ABC's was tantamount to being the smartest person alive.

"Yes, Lyds, he knew his ABC's but he wasn't so good at the 123's. Math gave him lots and lots of trouble. So much that he almost wasn't allowed to play basketball anymore, and to the silly young boy, that was worse than going to the dentist AND bedtime without dessert."

"No dessert? Oh Daddy, that poor boy."

Trying to hold back his laughter at his daughter's melodramatic ways, the young father continued the story. "So this silly young boy had to get a tutor—"

"Daddy, what's a tuder?" The little girl interrupted, and although he had told this story to her numerous times, and she asked the same question each time, he indulged his daughter's question.

"Tutor, Lydia. And a tutor is someone who is really, really smart and likes to help other people learn things," he explained, running his hand over her soft hair.

"Like ABC's?"

He nodded. "Yep, like ABC's and 123's. So the silly young boy went to see this tutor, but the tutor was not happy to see him."

"Because he was mean?"

"That's right, Lydia. The silly boy was mean to people, but one person he was really mean to was the tutor's best friend. He teased the best friend, he hurt his feelings, and so the tutor did not like the silly young boy," Nathan explained. "But he was determined—"

"What's deturminded?"

Nathan grinned at his daughter's mispronunciation. "Determined. It means… well, it means the silly young boy wanted to try his hardest to make the tutor like him, or at least not think he was so mean."

Feeling Lydia scoot even closer to him, Nathan wrapped his arm around the young girl before continuing the story.

"The tutor finally agreed to tutor the silly young boy because he said he would stop being mean to her best friend. The tutor, because she was so nice and beautiful—"

"Was she, Daddy? Was she beautiful like Ariel?" Lydia asked her father because to her, Ariel was the most beautiful princess of all.

 _And how he loved her oh so much_

 _And all the charms she did possess_

"Oh, she was even prettier than Ariel, Lyds. She was the most beautiful girl the silly young boy had ever seen. And she was so kind, even when the silly young boy was being mean to her best friend, she was not mean to him. She was also very, very smart, the smartest person the silly boy had ever met. And because she was kind and smart, she helped him with his schoolwork. You know how Mommy helps you with your ABCs? Well, that's like what the tutor did," Nathan said. "She helped the silly young boy become better at school."

The young girl smiled. "She sounds like she was the best ever, Daddy!"

Nathan nodded. "Oh, she was, Lydia. She was the best because she was so kind and smart and beautiful. And the silly young boy wanted to be more like her, he wanted to be nice and kind to others because the tutor made him happier than he could ever remember being."

Nearly bouncing in excitement, Lydia waited for her favorite part of the story.

"And one day, after the silly young boy had done something he shouldn't have – which you are never to do, right Lyds? – he went over to the tutor's house to tell her something very, very important, something he had never told anyone before."

"Oooh, Daddy, I can't wait for him to tell her!" the little girl squealed in sheer delight, laughter bubbling in her voice.

Grinning, Nathan continued the tale. "The silly young boy told the beautiful tutor that he wanted to be with her—"

"And they kissded? And were boyfriend and girlfriend? Yay!"

"Yes, Lydia," Nathan said, laughing at his daughter's enthusiasm. "They became boyfriend and girlfriend and started going on dates—which you are _not—_ "

"I know, I know, Daddy," she interrupted, sounding more like a teenager than his young daughter, "I can't have a boyfriend until I'm 30, I don't want a boyfriend anyway because boys are gross and did you know what Evan did—"

Before the little girl could continue with her story, Nathan interrupted her. Lydia definitely got Haley's rambling tendencies and if he wanted his little girl asleep before midnight, he knew he needed to stop her in her tracks.

"That's right, Lyds, but the silly young boy and the beautiful, kind tutor did go on dates, and the silly young boy began to realize the beautiful tutor was even more special than he thought. She was the kindest, most honest, and the best person he ever knew," Nathan said, falling into memories of those long ago days when he was falling in love with Haley.

 _How he worshipped the ground she walked_

 _And when he looked in her eyes he became obsessed._

"Before long, the silly young boy knew he was in love with the beautiful tutor but because he was silly and young, he was afraid to tell her. She was the most beautiful girl, and she was so kind and smart and nice, the silly young man wondered why she liked him because even though he had changed, he had been a mean boy who wasn't nice to others. He was afraid she didn't love him. But one day, he decided he had to tell her because he loved her so much. So he did, and he was so happy – happier than he ever had been – when she told him she loved him too."

Sighing happily, the little girl grinned up at her father. "That's so nice, Daddy."

"Yes, baby, it was," Nathan said as he bent over to place a kiss on her chestnut curls. "It was the nicest thing that had ever happened to the silly young boy."

Pulling his young daughter in his lap to finish the story, Nathan continued. "And one day, the silly young boy and the beautiful tutor got married. They loved each other so much and were so happy. And even though they argued and had some problems along the way, they never stopped loving each other at all. In fact, the silly young boy loved her more and more as the years went by. And one day, the silly young boy and the beautiful tutor had a son of their own named—"

"Jaime!" the little girl exclaimed.

"That's right, Jaime, who was the best little boy in the whole world. And soon, they had a daughter named…," Nathan trailed off, knowing Lydia always enjoyed this part.

"Lydia! And she was the best little girl in the whole world, right, Daddy?"

Nathan hugged his daughter close, breathing in her unique 'little girl' scent. "Yes, baby, she was the best little girl in the whole world and the silly young man and the beautiful tutor loved her so very much. And the silly young boy and the beautiful tutor, and their two children, lived happily ever after."

Noticing Lydia's yawn, Nathan eased her back onto the bed and under the covers. "Okay, Lyds, time for bed."

"Okay, Daddy," the little girl agreed, fighting another yawn. She snuggled under the covers, her bear held tightly in her grasp.

Nathan stood, bending low to tuck the covers around his daughter and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Good night, Lydia. I love you."

"I love you, too," was her soft reply.

As he turned to reach for the light, she whispered, "Daddy? I'm glad you're not the silly boy anymore."

Glancing at the picture of the young family on Lydia's nightstand, he smiled. "Me too, baby. Me too."

 _She said, "Don't you know that storybook loves_

 _Always have a happy ending?"_

 _Fin_


End file.
